Virtuo: Gaming Evolved
by Imikid
Summary: Halo has finally reached the era of virtual-reality gaming! And normal school quarterback Sebastian Graves will see just how fun playing with friends will be when they join the first ever Virtual-Reality Halo Tournament!
1. 01: A New Game Plan

**Virtuo: Gaming Evolved****  
**By Imikid

**01: A New Game Plan**

Bright and sunny days: that's the typical weather in Nevada – implying you can call Nevada weather "typical". Thus, it's a perfect day for Sparks High School's Railroaders football team to practice for the upcoming season. Sparks High is one of the oldest schools still standing in the Reno/Sparks area; of course, not without good reason. One of those reasons is the newest generation of enthusiastic and determined athletes that hadn't been seen in years. Of these youths is junior-year up and coming quarterback Sebastian Graves.

"HUT!"

The African-American boy is immediately given the ball as the two lines collide into each other with thirsty ferocity. Sebastian side-steps an incoming linebacker before throwing the ball towards his intended target. The small player down field leaps into the air – barely missing a blow from another player – and catches the ball tightly before taking off for the end zone. Before Sebastian can even holler at his receiver, however, he receives a hard tackle from the flank. Both players hit the ground and the air is knocked out of Sebastian.

"Nice throw 'Bastian!" the junior chuckled. "Too bad I can't compliment you and Sherry!" Sebastian glares at him until the whistle from the coach catches their attention.

"All right boys, nice work. Let's try keeping that attitude up! And Tory, don't let me catch you pulling that crap again!" the coach roars. "Line 'em up, right at the end zone!" Tory simply walks away; another player had to help Sebastian back to his feet. The players took to the exact positions as before only this time, the line that separated the two teams is the very same that separates the end zone from the rest of the field. Glancing up, Sebastian locks onto Tory, standing at the ready with his toothy grin glimmering through his helmet.

Months ago, Tory started dating a cute sweetheart by the name of Sherry. She's a sweet girl, dark-skinned, and she was also dating Sebastian at the same time. It was Tory who told him in the first place, and also rubbed it in his face on a constant basis after the fact. Nothing would please Sebastian more to get back at him somehow...

"Down!" Sebastian called out. "SET...HUT!"

The ball is tossed to him but Sebastian never lets his eyes off of Tory. The blonde charges up the middle and instead of backing up; Sebastian charges forward as well and jumps with all his might over the linebackers. His flying shoulder impacts with Tory and both hit the ground hard, but with the ball still underneath Sebastian. His team erupts with small hoots and hollers as he climbs to his feet and walks toward Tory to stand over him.

"Touchdown, bitch," Sebastian heatedly mutters. Enraged, Tory rips off his helmet and scurries to his feet as Sebastian turns to leave. Thankfully, some of their fellow players see what's coming and they all get between both Tory and Sebastian.

"Alright, alright, alright!" the coach approaches the team. "Knock it off with _that_ attitude and go get changed! Practice is over." Tory is the first to grab his helmet and storm off in the direction of the locker room as the rest of the team follows in a crowd.

There is small chit-chatting in the locker room – a lot of it about Sebastian – the typical banter at the end of a day of practice. Little by little the locker room empties out as students now head home to do whatever they do until Sebastian is the last one to get dressed and head for the door.

"'Bastian," the coach calls him. Immediately reacting, Sebastian pokes his head into the coach's office.

"Yes, sir?"

"I saw what was going on between you and Tory out there today," the coach explains. "And quite frankly, I'm disappointed in you."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you shouldn't let a delinquent like Tory get the better of you like that," the coach snaps. "If you were any of the other players then I wouldn't make this an issue, but you're the best quarterback this school has seen in quite a while – I should know. And as such you need to have your head on straight if we're gonna make a dent in the football season coming up. In other words: you better get it together over spring break. You get me?"

"Yes, sir," Sebastian answers hesitantly after a tense, silent moment.

"Good," the coach nods his head. "And I want you to start by getting a decent amount of rest. Now get outta here, and have a good break."

"Thank you, sir," Sebastian breathed a small smile as he left the confines of the locker room. Before Sebastian could set a foot off campus, though, he caught sight of Tory and Sherry making out behind the school, no doubt doing it out in the open on purpose...

Sebastian is a good student; he doesn't slack off in any of his subjects and always gives it his best. His parents would tell you that he gives it his all at everything he does regardless of what it is – even video games – and upon meeting Sebastian, you'd be inclined to believe them. But Sebastian is also good at something else: never letting any of that praise go to his head, unlike some people. Ironically enough, Tory has an uncanny ability to always get under his skin, even before Sherry cheated with him. Sebastian never had the patience to deal with people like Tory: arrogant, thick-headed, moronic people with god complexes. The fact that he took Sherry from him is just more icing on the cake as far as Tory is concerned. Sebastian himself is a well-built athlete; not too bulky while also not lacking in muscles either. He is right there in the middle, right where he figures a quarterback should be. He has black hair – arranged in no particular style other than the kind that hugs the shape his head – and blue eyes, possibly a bit lighter blue but who's really noticing?

Every day after school Sebastian jogs home and takes about fifteen minutes to get there. Questions are constantly asked: Why do you jog? Why not call your folks for a ride? The answer is also constant: Because exercise is good for you. That, and Sebastian enjoys jogging alone, it gives him time to think about the day's events, even if some aren't easy to think about. His house is two stories, but that's only thanks to the fact that he hardly ever sees his father. He is a great father, and Sebastian won't let anybody say otherwise, but with his father's job comes business trips and long hours at work. Holidays and birthdays are the only guarantees that Sebastian will see his father; every other day is played by the ear. His mother, on the other hand, is always there; her job is not as busy, though she gets home about a half-hour after he does. Believe it or not, it was actually thanks to his mother that he became interested in playing football. She would always show him games between big-name football teams and Sebastian would be instantly glued to the TV and by the time he was eight he had already been titled as "The Most Winning-est Backyard Quarterback".

He unlocks the front door with his key and heads inside, making a beeline for the kitchen sink to get himself a cup of water. He downs half the glass then refills the cup before heading upstairs to his room. Like most football fans, Sebastian's room is filled with football fandom pieces and memorabilia. Unlike most fans, Sebastian doesn't have a favorite team, only favorite players. In his mind, it's the player that needs to stand out, a hero that needs to win. He swings his backpack into his open closet and slides his Nike's right off as he sets down the cup of water and takes off his black jacket. He takes the cup in hand again and plops down on the bed before reaching for a small headset and putting it on, flipping a switch to activate it.

"Seven-twenty, run," he commands into the headphone. Instantly a black box over on his dresser is highlighted by green neon and quickly the room lights up with the same color. Sebastian waits patiently sipping his cup of water as the iconic green "X" appears along with the name "Virtuo" telling him that the virtual dashboard is loading. After mere moments, squares appear advertising the different operations and apps available on his gaming console. And not too long after the dashboard is loaded, a notification pops up.

"SpawnofWeapons2023 is online..." Sebastian reads the notification to himself just as another user-name pops up. "BushidoBabe01...huh...Greg _and_ Suki are online. View profile." The pop up expands into a full page of information on BushidoBabe01 and Sebastian immediately notices that both his friends are currently in a chat party. "Join party."

After a few seconds, two video screens enlarge to show a boy and a girl casually chatting. The boy is Gregory Barnes, someone that Sebastian has known since elementary school. He's a slightly chubby fellow with medium-length brown hair and brown eyes sometimes out shined by the glare of his glasses. Meanwhile, the girl is Suki Saegusa, a girl Sebastian met only last year when she arrived from Final Frontier Island. She has long, silky, black hair that reaches past her shoulders and she has a pair of hazel eyes.

"Hey, 'Bastian!" Suki greets immediately with a wide smile.

"Oh, hey, what's up 'Bastian?" Gregory greets with a small nod of his head. "How'd practice go?"

"Pretty good, looking forward to the season," Sebastian shrugs with a small smile as he takes another sip of water.

"But...?" Suki asks with a smug grin and raised brow. Gregory puts his chin in his hand and shakes his head.

"Seriously, how can you just _know_ when something's bothering someone?" Gregory demands.

"Comes with kendo practice," Suki sharply answers and practically pierces Sebastian's screen with her eyes. Sebastian hangs his head with a sigh and rubs the back of his neck.

"Just Tory again, nothing big," Sebastian finally answers, looking back at the screen with another shrug.

"Ugh…Tory. It's _always_ Tory," Suki complains while falling backwards and disappearing off screen.

"What happened this time?" Gregory asks with a slight tone of irritation.

"We just got into a...well...I guess a "subtle" scuffle and now the coach wants me to "get my head on straight" before spring break is over."

"Sounds serious," Gregory comments as Suki reappears on screen.

"I think it is," Sebastian sighs. "I need to get my mind off of him somehow..."

"Well, it would've been fine if he hadn't...huh? Oh! B-r-b guys!" Gregory says before launching out of his chair. Sebastian and Suki exchange weird glances before shrugging it off. Within a few moments Gregory was back with a magazine in his hands. "Sorry about that; latest Game Informer."

"Uh-huh..." Sebastian reacts with a smile and shaking head.

"I guess I'll continue with his argument, or at least try, to" Suki makes a face as Gregory buries his own into the magazine. "Things were going great with you until Sherry cheated on you, 'Bastian. Why she would with a loser like Tory is anybody's guess, but I think the problem is not getting your mind off of him; it's getting your mind off of _her_." Sebastian let out a long sigh as he set his glass down and put his face in his hands. ""There are a lot of fish in the sea" is how it goes, 'Bastian. Sherry isn't the world and you shouldn't be thinking that in the first place, especially nowadays."

"Suki, I was with her for, like, a year and a half," Sebastian argues. "I can't just forget that."

"Why not? She apparently did."

"Don't say that!"

"'Bastian, look at yourself! Your coach is probably going to kick you off the team if you and Tory don't stop reaching for each other's throats! And we all know that there is only _one_ girl that is making the two of you so pissed at each other: Sherry."

"She's an anchor you can't afford to have, 'Bastian," Gregory speaks up from behind the magazine.

"ALL RIGHT! Enough!" Sebastian shouts abruptly. He launches off of his bed and into a pace as he runs his hands over his hair and face trying to calm himself down. After a few heated moments, he takes a deep breath and lets it out and ceases his pacing.

"You're right," Sebastian sighs. "I gotta stop thinking about her. But how the hell can I do that? Once school starts up again after break I'm gonna have to see her every – freaking – day!" Suki starts with a shrug.

"Get a new girlfriend?" Sebastian lands an annoyed leer on her screen. "What?"

"Get a new girlfriend? How?"

Suddenly, Gregory starts to geek out on his screen with an excited but silent laughter as he launches out of his seat and dances around in the background.

"Something you'd like to share, Greg?" Suki asks as Sebastian raises a brow.

"Uh...sorry..." Gregory sits back down with a sigh and lifts his glasses to wipe away a tear. "It says here that the very first Virtual-Reality Halo Tournament – aka 'Virtuo: Gaming Evolved' – will be started three days from now. Teams from around the world are eligible to enter from noobs to pros. All one has to do is take a team of eight players to their local selection areas to participate. Oh! If only I had a team of my own!" Gregory sighs as he returns to his magazine and moments of silent follow. Slowly, a glint begins to show in Suki's eyes as she grows a sneer.

"That's not such a bad idea actually..." she says, leering evilly at Sebastian with a smile. Gregory's eyes peek over his magazine.

"What?" he asks.

"How about we join Virtuo?" Now Sebastian and Gregory begin exchanging worried glances.

"How?" Sebastian asks, crossing his arms. "Sure, we all play Virtual Halo, but I don't think either of us know enough people that do."

"So?" Suki smiles. "There's a website that lists all V-Halo players and where they live, right Greg?" Gregory nods slowly. "Let's find a team there." Sebastian's now-optimistic gaze goes back and forth between Suki and Gregory as a small smile appears.

"You know what? Why not? I gotta get my head straight," Sebastian lets out a small chuckle. "Maybe trying to win a gaming tournament's the way to go."

"R-really?" Gregory asks as a huge grin spreads across his face.

"Greg, if you know the site, then I want a list of all V-Halo players living in the Reno-Sparks area," Sebastian instructs as he slowly paces back and forth. "Preferably, I need the names of players who have bad reviews or prowess in an unexpected category. Anybody who stands out against the typical players."

"Why so specific?" Gregory asks as he tosses his magazine behind him and begins typing away at a virtual keyboard.

"Because the more unique our team is, the more surprised our opponents will be," Suki smiles at Sebastian.

"Coach taught me the same thing: nobody expects a pipsqueak to hold back a linebacker even though he can," Sebastian grins. "I want the nobodies, the losers, hell - _noobs_, even!"

"All right, I got the list of all V-Halo players in Reno and Sparks," Gregory announces. "Anyone got an idea where to start?"


	2. 02: Let's Get 'em Together

**02: Let's Get 'em Together**

"Let's start with demolitions; look up players with records of mainly explosive weapon usage," Sebastian instructs. After some excited keystrokes, Gregory adjusts his glasses and narrows his eyes at his screen.

"Got it!"

"Send Suki and I the list." Moments later, a list of names along with small paragraphs appears at Sebastian's right and he slides it in front of him.

"Lot of awesome contestants; too bad the best one is already on the team that's bet to win the tournament," Gregory comments as he glances over the list. "Anders Briggs: champion Rocket-ball player, demolitions expert of the 'Omegalympians' team."

"Well, then, we'll have to find someone else," Sebastian replies. "Someone nobody's expecting."

"I like this girl," Suki says with a smile. "Martha "Marty" Wicker; she's really good with explosive weapons."

"Yeah, but it says here that she's also good at blowing herself up," Gregory adds warningly. Sebastian expands on the girl's data then reads over the information.

"Yeah, but it also shows that her kill-to-suicide ratio is – on average – two-to-one," Sebastian points out, rubbing his chin. "So in other words, she's either constantly swarmed or she's a willing suicide bomber."

"Her address is in the info; let's go see her," Suki suggest with a smirk and a shrug.

* * *

All three duck at the sound of a firecracker going off quickly followed by hoots and hollers from behind the wooden fence. The three exchange glances then climb the fence to see what was going on behind it. Three teenagers are seen; Sebastian and the others instantly pick out Martha seeing as how she's the only girl of the trio. She has short, shaggy, dark-brown hair hidden underneath a black and white trucker's baseball cap with brown eyes.

"Slam it in, slam it in!" one of the boys shout as the second lights then drops a firecracker into the launcher. It shoots out not too long after that and detonates in the air and another wave of excited sounds echo from the fun-loving trio.

"Ok, you boys'd bitt'r start runnin'!" Martha calls out as she runs over and _picks up_ the cracker launcher.

"Oh, come on, Marty!" the first boy whines as Martha lights and loads another firecracker. "This ain't Halo!"

"Well, if you dun don't git outta the way, yer gonna see jist what happens when you punt a grunt with a sticky on yer foot!" Martha smiles evilly as she takes aim. The boys run like chicken with their heads cut off trying to evade the firecracker. Suddenly, the small explosive soars from the launcher and lands right into the second boy's back end just before exploding.

"BINGO! Right in th' blow-hole!"

Sebastian, Suki, and Gregory exchange glances and nods with satisfied smiles on their faces.

"Marty?" Suki asks.

* * *

"Well, since we're on the topic of suicidal berserkers," Gregory says with an uncomfortable smile as everybody sets aside the other list. "Take a look at this guy: Carlos Mendez. He's a guy I've fought against and with too many times to count. Not many people take him seriously because he mostly plays V-Borderlands rather than V-Halo _but_ he normally takes the role of what's called a "Gunzerker." Now, Gunzerkers in V-Borderlands have the ability to dual-wield whatever weapon no matter what the size, and apparently V-Halo allows the same thing but only limited by your own strength level. This guy is strong as hell because I've seen him dual-wield a fuel-rod gun _and_ rocket launcher; thankfully, we were on the same team that match." Sebastian and Suki skim over the information as Gregory explains his case.

"Well, that's pretty awesome, but it looks like he's lacking in strategy," Suki points out sternly. "He's a lone shark; always goes off on his own and almost never listens to his teammates."

"At some point we're going to need that," Sebastian argues. "But you are right; for the most part, that lone shark attitude's gotta go. Otherwise, he sounds good."

* * *

As the trio approach the paintball ring, the sounds of repeating fire and shouts become louder, as well as one particular voice cursing in what sounds like Spanish. The three climb the small steel steps to the bleachers and find seats to watch the match. With the similar uniforms and gear, it proved difficult to see their person of interest, especially with all the running around.

"Wait, I think that's him!" Suki lightly slaps Sebastian's shoulder to get his attention and points. Sebastian follows her finger and Gregory peers over as well at a rather large participant in red and black gear being forced behind cover by some of his fellow players. But that particular player didn't stay down for long as he wrestles a paintball gun from a player and runs out into the open.

"Bring it bitches!" he roars with laughter as he unloads onto the other team with two paintball guns. It didn't take long for the opposing team to return fire and hit him dead-on. But when the player wouldn't stop, officials blew their whistles and forced the player out of the arena, the player cursing at all of them in Spanish. As the game continued, Sebastian and the others ran down the bleachers to meet him before he left. The player even removed his helmet and they see a shaved, black haircut with a small Mohawk and a five-o'-clock shadow and dark-brown eyes.

"Carlos Mendez?" Sebastian asks, catching the Mexican's attention.

"What do you want?" he growls.

* * *

"All right, that's a total of five now, _assuming_ Marty and Carlos agree to join us," Gregory points out with a sigh. "What's next?"

"We need a stealth player," Sebastian says as he scratches his neck in thought. "Someone who is good at both camouflage and has perfected the art of getting the hell out of there."

"Ok..." Gregory replies quietly and types away at his keyboard. "Here we go." Again he sends the list to his two teammates and they look over the information. "Not many and few in between." As Sebastian surveys the small list, one detail stands out and he catches it instantly.

"Jackal?" he asks himself quietly.

"What's that, 'Bash?" Suki asks curiously.

"This guy, Kevin Yin," Sebastian expands the information box. "Says here his preference in species is the Kig-Yar, aka the "Jackals;" his preferred weapon of choice is a kukri knife."

"That's interesting," Suki comments quietly.

"Yeah...but the reviews here say he's a dumb shit," Gregory adds with critique. "Says here that he spontaneously celebrates loudly every time he gets a decent kill, which is practically every kill he gets in the first place. So whenever he kills someone, he gives himself away and gets killed more often than not. His only saving grace is that he's loyal to team strategies."

"That's good," Sebastian nods slightly. "Let's give him a shot."

* * *

Girls: the best part about a fundraising car wash; high school girls and guys signing up to wash and rinse cars (mostly girls, thankfully). A set of binoculars and a nice foot-long sandwich is everything he needs around lunch time; that and a decent hiding place (the guys don't like his style of "research"). Spiky, black hair dyed purple towards the top and light blue eyes; the perfect lady-killer that can't get a girl even if he tried. A shame, too.

"Oh...nice shape on that one," Kevin says to himself with a mouth full of sandwich. "Hmm...huh...I think I know that girl..." He did, he'd seen her around school hanging out with that quarterback and nerdy loser. Asian by heritage; cute, but lacking in some areas - in his opinion.

"What are you looking for?" he asks himself, noticing her demeanor. Suddenly, she glances over in his direction and notices the glare from his binoculars, and he notices this when she won't stop glaring at him and her fists bury themselves in her hips. With a confused look, he looks around his immediate area to see no shade around him. "Damn it! Note to self: find a hiding place with better shade next time!" He grabs his sandwich and makes a run for it, only to slam right into Sebastian and Gregory.

"Sup, Kevin," Sebastian smiles smugly. "We gotta talk..."

* * *

"Two more left, what else do we need?" Gregory asks.

"How about Megan?" Suki suggests with a shrug.

"M-Megan?" Gregory repeats in surprise.

"The valedictorian?" Sebastian asks to confirm.

"Yeah, Megan Harding," Suki nods with a small smile. "You _did_ say you wanted the unexpected; what's more unexpected than playing against someone who shouldn't be anywhere near video games with those high grades?"

"Yeah...uh...b-but wouldn't she be...like...busy with...valedictorian...er...stuff?" Gregory argues with a stutter. Suki and Sebastian both look at him with equally evil smirks.

"Oh, we're gonna have fun with this thing," Sebastian chuckles. "Sign her up!"

* * *

Gregory "volunteered" to guard the van while Sebastian and Suki walk up to the front door.

"School crushes, you just gotta love 'em," Suki says quietly with a wide smile.

"Yeah," Sebastian agrees as he rings the doorbell. After a few moments, a petite redhead answers the door, adjusting her glasses as her green eyes shift with surprised interest.

"Sebastian, Suki; I'm surprised to see you here," she says with a small smile, her body gesture suggesting a slightly more hostile attitude.

"Hey, Megan, do you mind if we come in for a minute to talk?" Sebastian asks, returning the smile.

"Sure," she replies before noticing Gregory toward the end of the driveway. "Um...what about Greg?" Both Sebastian and Suki shoot a glance behind them then turn back to her.

"He's guarding the van," Suki shrugs.

* * *

"All right, just _one_ more," Gregory groans with stress.

"Oh, this going to be fun," Suki smiles, rubbing her hands together as Gregory removes his glasses and rubs the bridge of his nose.

"So what do you think we need, 'Bastian?" Gregory asks as he replaces his glasses. Sebastian stands there for a minute, rubbing his chin in thoughtful debate as to what they still need. If anything, he himself is a well-rounded V-Halo player; not lacking in any abilities while also not being the best. Suki is fast and agile player; she's a good sniper _and_ she's well-taught in kendo, expertly wielding a katana in-game. Same can be said of Gregory; he is so into guns that shooting them in V-Halo are a second-nature to him. If these other teammate suggestions join, that means that they have a suicide bomber, a berserker, a loud-mouthed reptile, and a newbie. A colorful team, to be sure, and having to get them all to work together will be a challenge in and of itself. Sebastian might as well just lead a team of rookie football players against a professional football team.

"Rookie..." Sebastian mutters quietly.

"What?" Gregory asks with a raised brow.

"You guys heard about one of the sophomore kids, the one called "The Rookie?"" Sebastian asks his two teammates.

"You mean Jason?" Suki asks. "Jason Blake?"

"I never heard of him, but let me look him up," Gregory shrugs then types away on his keyboard. He looks over the information then goes wide-eyed. "Guys, you gotta see this kid's record; his pummel and beat-down scores are off the charts!" Both Suki and Sebastian receive the information themselves and look it over.

"Damn..." Suki comments in surprise. "Not much to offer in many other categories but his beat-down records are damn near legendary online."

"The most common reviews state that while he is only at a beginner's level as far as weapon combat, his strength comes from his unique hand-to-hand combat preference during the average game," Sebastian summarizes the information. "However, his weaknesses are his lack of weapons expertise and preference of ODST armor, making him vulnerable to many weapons and even a danger to himself when fighting hand-to-hand."

"Works well with a team except for when communicating..." Gregory says in a barely-audible tone. "Wait, that doesn't make sense...if he works well with his team, how can he fail in communication?"

"Oh, come on, Greg. Don't tell me you haven't heard the stories?" Suki huffs a small laugh. Gregory shakes his head slowly.

"Jason's father used to be a cop in the Reno Police Department," Sebastian explains as he continues to sort through the information. "Unfortunately, he was killed in the line of duty; shot while issuing a ticket to some driver."

"Yeah...and Jason was in the front seat of his father's cop car when it happened," Suki adds.

"I didn't hear _that_ part," Sebastian sighs with a shaking head.

"Nowadays, it's a rarity if he speaks a single word, even to his own family," Suki continues evenly. "Or so the rumors go."

"In fact, it even says here that the combination of his persistent silence and ODST armor preference earned him the nickname "The Rookie" in-game and the name stuck outside of the game as well," Sebastian adds. "We need him. Both The Rookie and Kevin both prefer a class other than the typical SPARTAN characters, and more so, The Rookie has hand-to-hand combat skills that's sure to catch some people off guard."

"Even then, he can't be our trump card," Gregory warns sternly. "His armor preference and communicating skills are going to be tough to handle..."

* * *

The three approach the front door to Jason's house and Sebastian knocks. After a few moments of silence he knocks again...still nothing.

"Huh...they should be home; their vehicles are still in the driveway," Gregory points out the sitting cars.

"Maybe they're in the backyard," Suki suggests as she hops off the porch and heads for the side gate with the two boys in tow.

"Cross, cross, hook, uppercut! Nice! Cross, cross, right elbow, knee strike! Ok, faster this time..." a voice was heard as the trio approach the side gate and Suki climbs the gate to poke her head over. She sees three people: a redheaded woman relaxing in a lawn chair; a dark-haired, well-built man with a five o' clock shadow; and a teenager with light-brown hair and brown eyes. She assumes the teenager is Jason – who looks to be younger than herself – and the redheaded woman is his mother. She doesn't recognize the man, though.

"Um, excuse me?" Suki calls out. The three in the backyard gaze her way.

"Oh, I am so sorry; I didn't hear you knock," the woman says with a smile as she quickly stands up and moves towards the gate. After a moment she opens the gate. "Can we help you?"

"We're actually looking for Jason Blake," Sebastian explains. "We'd like to talk to him." Almost instantly, the silent teenager appeared at the gate with the man standing right behind him with a suspicious gaze.

* * *

"So is the rest of the team we put together, Greg," Sebastian snaps. "If we're even able to get all of them to join us, that's a team of _eight_ V-Halo players who need to work out their differences and start cooperating as a team all in _three_ days. Hell, even less than that. It'll be a damn miracle if we even make it past the first round of this tournament!"

"That's why we need a good leader," Suki points out sternly. ""A leader that demands respect through experience," as they say. And I say we make 'Bastian the leader of our team."

"I was just thinking the same thing, actually," Gregory agrees, scratching his cheek.

"Why me?" Sebastian asks with a shrug.

"You're a quarterback, 'Bastian," Suki smiles. "Your coach practically drilled "leadership" into your skull; now's the perfect time to prove that you got it down packed! The football team runs like a well-oiled machine; why can't this team?"

"Waddya say, Cap? You game?" Gregory asks with a smile of his own. Soon enough that smile is shared on Sebastian's face.

"Oh, yeah," he replies with a big smile. "Tomorrow, we'll go around and find these people, and if all goes well, we'll tell them to meet us at the marina the day after and we'll go from there."

"Gonna be cutting it close," Suki points out with a face.

"I know. Like I said, we'll need a miracle," Sebastian grins.


	3. 03: The Halo Flight Team Pt 1: Arrival

**03: The Halo Flight Team Pt. 1: Arrival**

"Joining a team to win a big-time gaming tournament sounds like a pretty tall order," the man says as they drive towards the Sparks Marina. "You think you can handle it?"

Jason nods as the marina comes into view and he is able to see three figures sitting at a shaded table in the morning hours. The man – SWAT Officer Tyler Banner – pulls up to the curb to let the boy out.

"You be careful, all right? Call your mom when you want to be picked up," Tyler instructs as Jason steps onto the sidewalk. The teenager turns back to him with a smile and a thumbs-up which Tyler returns. With the closing of the car door, Tyler took off and Jason descends a flight of stairs onto the marina beach and approaches the trio he'll be calling his new teammates. Sebastian glances up and spots the approaching teenager.

"Here comes our first teammate; hopefully not the last," Sebastian announces to the two others as he approaches Jason. "Rookie, good to see you could make it." Jason shakes his hand with a smile and a nod as the other two arrive to do the same.

"As you know, this is Suki Saegusa, our sniper, and Gregory Barnes, our weapons expert," Sebastian introduces the others.

"Nice to see you again, Jason," Suki shakes his hand and bows slightly.

"Can't wait to see you in action, man," Gregory shakes his hand as well.

"THE FUN HAS ARRIVED!" Everyone draw their attention back to the top of the stairs to see none other than Kevin Yin posing on the railing right before he leaps off and flips onto his feet on the ground. "Didn't know I was into parkour, did ya?"

"It was kind of a given, Kev," Suki mutters and Kevin cockroaches.

"Kevin Yin, Jason "The Rookie" Blake," Sebastian introduces the two. "Jason, Kevin is our stealth specialist; Kevin, Jason is our hand-to-hand combat specialist."

"Hand-to-hand?" Kevin echoes as he shakes hands with Jason. "As in...martial arts?" Jason nods with a slight "sort of" shrug. "Oh, really? Well, I know a few things too! C'mon Rookie, let's see what you got!" Kevin makes a high-pitch sound as he starts dancing around Jason, jabbing playfully at him. Jason looks up at Sebastian and the others who merely shrug as Kevin seems to be getting serious. Right when Kevin moves to throw a punch, Jason lands a straight punch right in his chest and the stealth expert keels back breathlessly, holding his chest.

"Damn...!" Kevin coughs out. "Now that's a hell of a punch..." The trio applaud as Jason just shrugs. Suddenly, something catches Gregory's attention.

"Oh..." he grumbles as he tries to hide his face and hides behind everyone else.

"Ah, here comes Megan," Suki smiles smugly as she looks over at the girl in the yellow jogging suit. "Out for a morning jog, Megan?"

"Why not? Barely anyone here, right?" Megan smiles as she slows down and starts catching her breath. "So this is the team?"

"Most of it; we're waiting on the last two," Sebastian points out as Megan unzips her jacket to air herself out, revealing her black shirt. Immediately, Kevin temporarily goes wide-eyed then licks his hands and combs his hair back before approaching Megan. "Anyway, this is Jason Blake, otherwise known as "The Rookie"; he'll be our hand-to-hand combat expert. And this..."

"Sup, babe," Kevin says as he leans into Megan.

"Back off, Kevin," Megan glares heatedly. "I know who you are. I've gotten enough complaints about you from the girls at school. You're a peeping tom, which automatically makes you our stealth expert…whatever good _that_ may be." Kevin is left frozen and speechless; in fact, the only thing that moves is his hair as it retakes its spiky shape. Sebastian and everyone else just start laughing.

"That's cold, babe…real cold," Kevin pouts as he takes his position next to Jason, who looks at him with a smug smile. "What!?" Jason simply shrugs.

"Well, guys, this is Megan Harding," Sebastian finally introduces her. "She's the valedictorian of Sparks High School and thus, our best strategist."

"Strategist?" Kevin chuckles. "She's a _valedictorian_; what the hell does she know about playing _V-Halo_?" Megan answers him with a glare as Gregory slaps him upside the head. "Hey!" Kevin tries hitting him back but Jason quickly catches him in a choke hold. Before things can get out of control, however, everyone hears the sound of a small engine. "The hell is that...sounds like a bunch of bees...?"

"Um...I think that's our next teammate," Gregory points towards the other end of the marina. A dust cloud erupts from the incoming go-kart as it speeds towards the group at top speed. Megan jumps in fright and runs behind Gregory whose face seems to start glowing neon red as the go-kart slows down and turns to skid to a stop just before reaching the group. As the dust clears and the group start brushing themselves off, two separate sets of laughter catches the team's collective attention.

"HOLA, SEÑOR LOCO!" Carlos roars with laughter from the back of the go-kart.

"WHOO! Haven't had that much of a hullabaloo since we used that there thing as a whatchama-call-it!" Martha pokes her head out of the driver's seat.

"I guess it's the last of our new team," Suki chuckles as the two jump out of the go-kart to convene with the rest of the group.

"Glad you could make it, guys," Sebastian greets both teammates. "Surprised you two met already, though."

"Eh, she almost ran me over so I yelled at her; she mentioned you guys, so I hitched a ride…tu sabes como va," Carlos shrugs nonchalantly and Martha giggles.

"Right...so you guys know the three of us," Sebastian says as he turns to the group. "The girl behind Greg is Megan Harding - she'll be our team's strategist; over there is Kevin Yin and he's our stealth expert; and next to him is Jason Blake – we call him "Rookie" – he's the hand-to-hand combat specialist. And you three; these two are Carlos Mendez and Martha Wicker. Carlos is our berserker and Martha's our demolitions expert - she goes by "Marty.""

"Sup!" Carlos jerks his head.

"Howdy!" Martha tips her trucker's cap.

"So this is our team?" Kevin asks with half a chuckle.

"Duh, we have eight team members, right?" Megan points out in annoyance as Gregory inches away from her.

"You know what, you smart ass -" Kevin snaps when Jason suddenly slaps his hand over his mouth. When Kevin glares up at him, Jason just shakes his head warningly before letting him go.

"Some team you got here, ese," Carlos comments while picking his ear.

"Yep," Sebastian rubs the bridge of his nose. "All right – since we're all here – let's get a few things done before we try out a match online. First off: I'm going to be the team leader. If anyone has a problem with that, speak up now."

"Yeah, I do!" Kevin snaps heatedly. "Why do you get to be leader? Why can't I be the leader? I bet I played tons more V-Halo games than _any_ of you have!"

"That may be true, but your profile says that you _never_ take the role of leadership during team match-ups," Suki points out, crossing her arms while Sebastian steps up and sits on the nearby table. "That and you almost _never_ play Team Deathmatch in the first place. And on top of _that_, Sebastian is our football team's quarterback at our high school and thus has the natural leadership qualities to lead this team."

"I'll accept that," Megan shrugs.

"You would," Kevin huffs.

"Anyone else have any objections?" Sebastian asks, looking around at his team. Jason shakes his head as Kevin just crosses his arms and looks away.

"Nah, I'm good," Martha remarks.

"Loco, just so you know," Carlos warns sternly. "I don't take orders from anyone else except for Carlos!"

"I'm well aware of that, Carlos," Sebastian returns the stern gaze. "Secondly, I need to know why each of you joined our team."

"Money!" Kevin practically shouts out immediately. Carlos and Martha glance at each other.

"I think it's safe to say that we both want that there tournament prize money, too," Martha nods with a grin. Sebastian's gaze lands on Jason who shrugs with a blank stare before reaching Megan.

"_Supervision_ purposes," she glares warningly.

"All right," Sebastian says after a long sigh. "Well, then, at least we're on the same page with each other now. Now the real fun begins. We're going to the Sparks Public Library to use their conference room and pit this team against another team online."

"All right! Let's git'r done!" Martha jumps in excitement.

"Then load up in the van; I'm drivin'!" Gregory smiles excitedly.

* * *

The Sparks Public Library still retains the same basic shape it had since it was built way back when; any major differences are limited to the interior. The conference room is one such interior detail that had only limited renovations done, mainly for the purpose of providing high school students to play virtual games after classes end for the day. One feature is the shade to cover the glass doors, which Suki and Martha lock in place as Sebastian and Gregory boot up the Xbox-720 program. The shade isn't meant to hide what people are doing inside the conference room, it's more so to keep the light and glares out while at the same time library employees can still see everything that goes on inside.

"All right, the seven-twenty is up and running; everyone can start downloading their profiles now," Gregory announces.

"All right," Megan stands up from sitting on the small stage off to the side.

"Download profile "SpawnofWeapons2023,"" Gregory commands. Quickly a message and bar appear displaying the progress of the download.

"Download profile "sebastiangravesquarterback01 ,"" Sebastian does the same.

"All right, shade down and locked," Suki announces. "Download profile "BushidoBabe01.""

"Get some! Download profile "Cr ckrlonchr13!"" Martha shouts out excitedly.

"You guys've got the _dumbest_ usernames I've ever heard of," Kevin mutters to himself with a facepalm.

"Download profile " 1,"" Megan commands, ignoring Kevin's rambling. Right next to her, Jason physically pulls up his profile of "SWATrookie10" and began its download.

"Download profile "coolestninjaevar1!"" Kevin commands in a smooth tone. Megan rolls her eyes.

"Download profile "Only_Gunzerker_Alive,"" Carlos demands in a growling tone. After a few seconds, everyone's profiles download without a hitch.

"Ok, run Virtual-Reality Halo," Gregory commands and instantly the entire room transforms into an unspecific area in the middle of space. From a nearby planet comes the only light source in the room and debris seems to dance around the eight players. "Start game…enter multiplayer…join Big Team Deathmatch."

"All right, let's lay out a blueprint here," Sebastian starts as light starts to form around the players. "Carlos, if you don't like being bossed around then by all means, do whatever the hell you want; but Marty, I want you covering his back. Is that all right by you?"

"Ya dern right it is!" Martha jumps up and down excitedly. "Let's do this!" Her suit is the first to materialize. It visualizes the standard marine of the UNSC with the CH252 helmet, M52B Battle Armor, and VZG7 Armored Boots. Carlos huffs at the sound of getting help from someone else. His armor quickly materializes after Martha's showing off a black-colored variant of the SPARTAN-II's MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor, resembling a seemingly dark Master Chief with red streaks running down the arms.

"Kevin, you're on stealth; get as many kills as you can without getting yourself killed," Sebastian continues with the instructions.

"Oh, I'm there!" Kevin hops up and down on his toes as he seemingly transforms into a raptor-like Jackal complete with a mane of feathers and a kuhkri knife strapped to his back.

"Jason, stick with Kevin. Keep him quiet." Jason nods in responds, though Sebastian can't see this. Jason's suit is that of a dark-shaded, snow camouflage CQB variant of the ODST Battle Armor. As his suit materializes, Jason taps on a small lens on his helmet and screens pop up on everyone else's screens.

"Whoa, what's this?" Suki asks in surprise.

"A camera," Gregory points out. "Now we can see whatever he sees."

"Very nice, very nice," Sebastian nods. "Ok. Suki, you're on long-range support. Megan, I'd like you to cover her back for when the enemy team gets smart on us."

"Good idea, I got her back," Megan nods to herself. Her suit reveals itself to be SPARTAN-IV armor in a color of light blue with white streaks. Meanwhile, Suki becomes a female Sangheili equipped with the standard, dark-violet Combat Harness with a katana sheathed and tied to her backside.

"Greg, you're with me on the front lines, got it?" Sebastian instructs.

"Got it," Greg replies with a nod. His Forerunner Combat Skin collects itself around him as he "oversees" its construction. Finally, Sebastian is armored up in the red MJOLNIR variant of Noble Team's SPARTAN-III's complete with what seems to be night-vision goggles. After the team's armors all materialize, the opposing team is displayed with the game map appearing as the background, both circling in opposite directions.

"Looks like we're heading for Exile; pick out your load outs," Sebastian orders sternly. As the option pops up, all eight players click on it then select their weapons, grenades, and other abilities. With Jason, he selects a suppressed sub-machine gun and standard ODST M6C/SOCOM with pulse grenades. Though he is just an ODST, he is allowed limited armor abilities, which he chooses the armor ability Evade. Next, Kevin chooses a beam rifle with a plasma pistol as his side arm and plasma grenades while his default armor ability equips him with an energy shield. Megan chooses the MA5D Assault Rifle with a suppressor as her secondary weapon with standard grenades and frag grenades with her own energy shield armor ability. Suki equips herself with Sniper Rifle System 99 Anti-Materiel and a Mauler as her side arm with plasma grenades and Hologram armor ability. Martha grins with glee as she selects a Needler and a grenade launcher as her weapons along with frag grenades; unfortunately, she can't select any armor abilities with her standard marine outfit. Carlos, on the other hand, selects the M739 Light Machine Gun as well as the M45D Tactical Shotgun with frag grenades and the Armor Lock armor ability. Gregory carefully selects his weapons as the BR85HB SR Battle Rifle and the Boltshot with plasma grenades and Invisibility armor ability. Finally, Sebastian chooses the M395 DMR and standard M6G Magnum with plasma grenades and the Jetpack armor ability.

"All right, all set," Suki announces.

"All systems go," Megan echoes.

"Ready to rock!" Kevin shouts.

"Cocked and locked," Gregory smiles evilly.

"Andale! Let's go!" Carlos yells out.

"Go! Go! Go!" Martha shouts, unable to wait any longer.

Sebastian glances back at Jason who gives him a small solute.

"All right," Sebastian says with a small sigh and a smile. "Time to engage." As he says it, everyone's virtual visors activate.

**To be continued...**


	4. 04: The Halo Flight Team Pt 2: Battle

**A/N: Hey guys, Imikid here. For all my readers who are enjoying this story thus far; I've temporarily lost touch with my editor so this chapter may be worse than the last chapter as far as grammar goes. Also I'm sorry for the long wait! Please enjoy and R&R please!**

* * *

**04:**** The Halo Flight Team Pt. 2: Battle Stations**

Sebastian, Megan, Carlos, and Martha enter the match finding themselves on-board a descending pelican drop-ship along with CPU-controlled marines.

"Crap!" Sebastian exclaims. "Greg! You seeing this?"

"Yeah! They have the 'factual landing' option active!" Gregory explains through their radio. "Everyone is entering the battle the same way our selected species would!"

"And since the other team was comprised completely of SPARTAN's," Megan points out with concern. "They're going to be spawning together while we're spawned separately."

"Correct!" Gregory nearly blows everybody's eardrums. "Now there's no reason the pelican and Covenant Phantom shouldn't land within close proximity to each other _but_ since Rookie and I chose ODST and Forerunner respectively; we're going to enter the arena separately. I just landed and I can see the pelican nearby but I don't know where the Rookie is!"

"Rook! Can you hear me?" Sebastian reaches out through the radio as the pelican touches down. "Rookie! If you can hear me than activate that helm cam of yours!" Almost instantly a small screen pops up in everyone's visors to see a thick underbrush covering most of the screen but everyone can make out the scene of the opposing team rushing out of their pelican.

"He's behind enemy lines!" Suki erupts through the radio.

"Ok, here's what's going to happen," Sebastian instructs as everybody starts running out of the pelican. "Everyone but Carlos and Marty will go stealth; find your partners and set up shop but don't draw attention to yourselves until you find them. Marty, keep the other team busy."

"That won't be none too hard!" Martha shouts back as she chases after a shouting and cursing Carlos.

"Exile has undergone a major overhaul of its appearance since it's debute as a multiplayer stage in Halo 4," Gregory starts explaining as though he were reading directly from a book. "The over all design has not changed but the addition of thick brush and forests will help us to hide from the other team!"

"Good to know, now get down!" Suki shouts to him. Gregory quickly turns around to see Suki with her raised sniper rifle and quickly ducks as she pulls the trigger and caps an opponent right in the head. "YES! First blood!" She leaps into the air with joy before ducking into the underbrush, narrowly missing returning fire.

Gregory then jumps to his feet and rushes in the direction of the ally pelican when his shields suddenly lights up as it deflects a few shots from behind. He spins around and fires back with his battle rifle while still trudging backwards. Two SPARTAN-IV enemies give chase with a storm rifle and a SAW. Gregory's shields almost drop before he is able to duck into a cave and put his back to a wall. As the two SPARTAN's chase him into the cave, Sebastian drops down with a knife to the back of a SPARTAN's neck then uses it as leverage and snaps his neck. As the other turns in a panic, Gregory emerges with a plasma blade and pierces the back of the SPARTAN then rips it out of the side.

"A head-shot and two assassinations, not a bad start!" Gregory laughs as he and Sebastian continue through the cave.

"Carlos is down!" Martha alerts through the radio.

"Well that didn't take too long," Sebastian mutters. "Megan, have you met up with Suki?"

"I found her; we're trying to find a good spot to hunker down," Megan replies with a huff as she chases after Suki. "Suki get down!" She spots an enemy charging a Spartan Laser and Suki dives into the brush as Megan sets up behind a tree and starts unloading on the SPARTAN-IV. But before the enemy's shield could drop, the Spartan Laser fires and bursts through the tree and straight into Megan.

"Damn noobs and their big guns!" Suki scowls at herself. She dashes out of the underbrush making a b-line for the SPARTAN-IV with her mauler drawn. Quickly, the SPARTAN switches out his laser for a shotgun and blasts Suki as soon as she got close enough. She was too late in realizing that her target is in fact a hologram! Before the SPARTAN can collect herself, Suki busts through the hologram with her katana drawn and slices straight through the enemy with a clean strike.

Jason makes his way through the arena as quietly as possible with his suppressed SMG constantly at the ready. He hasn't run into anyone from either his team or the opposing team and the feeling starts to creep him out. Suddenly, the brush being shifted behind him draws his attention and he spins around to be met with a scattershot being aimed at himself.

"BANG-A-RANG!"

Out of nowhere, Kevin jumps down and stabs his kuhkri straight into the SPARTAN's head and proceeds to slide down his back.

"_**Gain the lead!"**_

"Yeah, _uh_, bring it on sucka!" Kevin tea bags his opponent's body for a moment before Jason re-catches his attention. "Jeez, Rookie! It took me long enough to find your sorry ass! C'mon, we gotta get back to our side!" Jason nods in response and starts running after the petite Jackal as he continues his rant. "Jeez, spawning this far away from your team, someone _seriously_ needs to fire whoever thought of-" An energy sword runs straight through Kevin's body and his body is tossed aside as the SPARTAN then turns the blade on Jason.

"_**Lost the lead!"**_

The SPARTAN goes for a vertical swipe and Jason side-steps it and counters with a straight elbow to the back. The SPARTAN stumbles but recovers and turns to slice at the Rookie again but Jason beats him to the punch as he launches a high kick that lands on the SPARTAN's collar and quickly follows up with a hard left cross to the helmet. As the SPARTAN stumbles again, Jason lunges and draws his knife, burying it deep within the SPARTAN's rib cage.

"_**Gain the lead!"**_

"Nice going, Rook!" Sebastian compliments as Jason sheaths his knife. Another sound alerts him and he raises his SMG to the sight of a Scorpion tank tearing through the trees. "Is that a tank?!" Jason starts backing up slowly towards a cave as three enemy SPARTAN's emerge with the tank, one jumping on the gun turret. "Run, Rookie! RUN!" Jason immediately takes off into the cave as the machine gunner opens up on him and the two SPARTAN's give chase. They start firing on the Rookie within the cave and Jason turns around to return fire. As he leaves the cave, Jason throws a plasma grenade then jumps to his left, finding Gregory and Sebastian caught in a heated firefight with three members of the opposing team. The grenade detonates but the two pursuing SPARTAN's duck in cover so Jason starts firing into the cave.

"Rookie! Look out!" Gregory yells out. Jason turns but is instantly mowed down by SAW fire. As soon as Jason drops, Gregory spots the two other SPARTAN's emerging from the cave and – noticing how low his shields are – he draws his boltshot.

"Bastian!" Gregory calls out. He throws the weapon as the two SPARTAN's combined firepower rip through his shields and gun him down. Sebastian catches the boltshot then switches his DMR with his magnum. As the two SPARTAN's fire up the ramp at him, Sebastian starts firing with his magnum while charging the boltshot. One of the SPARTAN's assault rifle clicks and he charges up the ramp and attempts to hit Sebastian with the butt of it, but Sebastian backhands the weapon then fires the charged boltshot right into her head. But as the SPARTAN's body falls limp, both the SPARTAN at the foot of the ramp and the enemies from across the way continue their barrage. Sebastian's shields flicker and he quickly dives behind some boxes while charging another shot. Meanwhile, two of the SPARTAN's from across the way are thrown into the air by a sudden explosion; the third rushes out of cover at the sound of roaring laughter.

"Yee-haw!" Martha emerges from the brush, reloading a rocket launcher. "Whoo doggy! Oh you bett'r run!" Before the SPARTAN could, Carlos jumps out with his shotgun and blasts him point blank range. Sebastian half-smiles at the sight but his face straightens when he spots the other SPARTAN charging up the ramp. Sebastian jumps out of his hiding spot and aims his boltshot but as soon as he pulls the trigger, the SPARTAN butts his arm, making him miss. As the butt end was aimed for his helmet, Sebastian blocks it with his magnum then slugs the SPARTAN, making him drop his weapon. The SPARTAN then rips out his knife and lunges at Sebastian who just barely blocks the knife with his magnum. The SPARTAN rams him into the wall and Sebastian tries aiming at his enemy's head firing twice and missing both shots. Down below, Suki runs out of an encampment and spots Sebastian's struggle. She takes her sniper rifle and goes prone, carefully taking aim.

"C'mon, c'mon..." she grinds her teeth with an itchy trigger finger. "One shot..." She sees the SPARTAN pull out a mauler of his own but then Sebastian grabs his arm and the duo pull a one-eighty, giving Suki a much clearer shot. One that she takes! The SPARTAN goes limp and practically flies into the opposite wall like a rag doll. "YES!" she shouts just before she notices the cloud of enemy signals on her radar disperse. "Shit..."

She rolls over and reaches for her katana but she knows it's two late as the SPARTAN with the energy sword lunges at her. But at the last possible moment, Megan arrives on the scene and jumps on Suki with her energy shield activated. The sword bounces off and Megan immediately jumps back to her feet and uppercuts the SPARTAN with her still-active shield. And as the SPARTAN slams to the ground, Megan pulls out her suppressor and unloads on him point-blank, easily taking down his shields and killing him. She then turns to help Suki to her feet as Carlos starts shouting and cursing.

"That's right bendehoes! Usted no puede matarme! Nada puede mantenerme-" An explosion erupts right where Carlos stood and everyone turns to the sound of the Scorpion tank round a corner and everyone's jaws drop at the sight of it.

"Move, move, move! Get to cover!" Sebastian shouts as everyone scatters away from the tank. "Megan! Any thoughts?"

"It's much harder to deal with a Scorpion in virtual reality than in the old console versions!" Gregory blurts out over the radio.

"Thank you, _nerd_!" Megan snaps rhetorically. "We have the weapons to deal with it but by the _LOOKS OF IT_ -" She's interrupted temporarily when the SPARTAN in the gun turret fires on she and Suki who duck away behind a small rock. "...They have a gunner with a good eye which makes any move against it dangerous!"

"Ok. Suki; get proned!" Sebastian orders. "Marty; take any potshots you can at it! The rest of us will aim to take out that gunman! Halo Flight engage!"

Martha pops out of her cover and fires a rocket that smashes into the side of the tank; causing significant damage yet the tank still trudges forward. The blast draws the gunner's attention and unloads on Martha's position who immediately starts running to cover and avoiding the ricocheting bullets. Suddenly, the canon turns towards the fleeing marine.

"Martha! Look out!" Gregory emerges from a trench and calls out to her. But he called out too late as the canon erupts with a shell that hits directly with Martha, killing her.

"Leading the shots, whoever is driving is damn good at shooting!" Megan points out as she and Suki duck beneath a bridge where the tank drives over. Suki pulls out her mauler and Megan starts firing with her assault rifle at two incoming SPARTAN's. Sebastian rolls behind a wall to avoid incoming fire from the heavy machine gun. The SPARTAN with the energy sword emerges from a cave system and lunges at him. Sebastian ducks away from it and fires his DMR but the bullets deflect off the SPARTAN's shields and he lunges again and Sebastian snags the sword with his DMR. Suddenly, the swordsman is snagged from behind and the person throws him against the wall.

"Adiós hijo de puta!" Carlos scowls as he blasts the SPARTAN mercilessly with his SAW. He lifts Sebastian back to his feet and the two hug a wall and peek out to see what the situation is with the Tank. Its attention is focused on Gregory and Martha as they trade potshots with Suki and Megan nowhere to be seen.

"Suki, where are you two?" Sebastian demands.

"We found a nice spot behind the tank and I'm getting prone now," Suki replies through the radio.

"Ok, Carlos; you think you can -"

"Don't even think about giving me orders, Morón!" Carlos roars as he rushes out of cover and starts unloading onto the tank, which in turn catches the gunner's attention. The machine gun starts withering away his shields until – at the last possible second – Sebastian tackles him out of the line of fire. They roll around the ground for a moment until Carlos finally tears away from him and slugs him across the visor and continues his assault on the tank. Again Sebastian shoves him back into cover but this time pins him against the wall.

"Damn it Carlos you can't take that thing down on your own with just a SAW!" Sebastian roars in his face as the machine gun continues to fire on their cover. "You better get with the program and grab yourself another SAW and do that 'gunzerking' you're so good at!" As the machine gun is focused with Sebastian and Carlos and the canon trying to find Martha; Gregory runs out of his cover and tosses a sticky right in the tank's treads before sliding in under the bridge. The explosion rips out of the treads and Suki takes it as a signal to start firing on the tank, mainly aiming for the gunner. The gunman becomes distracted by the source of the explosion while the canon turns towards the origin of the sniper rounds.

"Oh shit! Megan get down!" Suki shouts as she rolls out of her position. Just as the canon begins to turn, Sebastian takes aim at the gunner when something suddenly rushes past him. Jason jumps from the balcony and swings on the canon into a double kick that connects with the gunner's helmet. The SPARTAN is nearly broken in half by the impact and Jason takes the opportunity to deliver another hard kick to the helmet. That kick however knocks sense back into the SPARTAN and he jumps out and tackles the Rookie to the metal. Jason rolls on top of him and starts pounding away at his helmet until the SPARTAN kicks the Rookie off of him. The canon fires at Megan and Suki and Jason just barely misses the shell upon being thrown off of his nemesis. Staggered but not fallen, Jason ducks away from a swing and a miss from the SPARTAN and he comes back with a hard left to his side then shoots a straight uppercut to the helmet. The SPARTAN's head bounces off the bottom of the canon and Jason delivers a roundhouse that knocks the SPARTAN off the tank.

"Way to go, Rook!" Sebastian hollers as Carlos disperses another enemy behind him.

"Now get a grenade into the back end of that tank!" Gregory calls out, blasting a SPARTAN with his battle rifle then punting him into next week. As the Scorpion tries wheeling away, the Rookie climbs to the back of the tank and starts to pry off the grate. He bends the top corner enough for a grenade to slip through so he pulls out a grenade from his belt. But before he can push in the grenade, someone snags him and tosses him off of the tank; sending the grenade flying off in another direction. Jason slams to the bridge then looks up to see the SPARTAN he just kicked off the tank, apparently no worse for wear. The SPARTAN punts Jason and he throws his arms up to block the impact. The kick sends him flying backwards and he lands hard on his back, knocking the wind out of him. But he has no time to catch it as he immediately rolls out of the way of an energy sword being thrust into the ground where he was laying. Jason rolls to his feet then instantly jumps back to avoid another swing and side-steps a lunge before turning and ducking underneath a wide cross from the other SPARTAN. That same SPARTAN follows with another punt that the Rookie rolls away from and counters with an elbow to the side of the helmet. Jason tries avoiding another swing from the sword but only barely misses it and the SPARTAN surprises him with a sudden kick that knocks him to the ground.

"Fire in the hole!" Martha roars as he spartan laser fires and goes straight through the Scorpion tank.

"One more hit and it's down, Marty!" Megan yells out. The SPARTAN stabs down at Jason only to be deflected with another sword. Jason is then pulled to his feet by Suki and the two stare down their two enemies. The weaponless SPARTAN lunges forward with a swing but Jason jumps and spins in the air with a hard kick that connects with the SPARTAN's chest plate and sends him staggering backwards. As the other tries to counterattack, Suki blocks him with her sword then counters into an attack that the SPARTAN blocks. Martha fires another laser that completely obliterates the tank erupting in an enormous explosion while Jason is tripped by the SPARTAN. He instantly leaps back to his feet and flies into an elbow that makes the SPARTAN take his turn on the ground. With the energy sword being smaller than her katana, Suki is forced to fight defensively as the SPARTAN enemy assaults her with strike after strike until finally Suki slips past a lunge and grabs his blade arm. Jason starts dodging around a hurricane of wild hay-makers until he accidentally backs up into Suki. The two quickly exchange glance then Jason ducks and Suki swings her sword, cutting off the SPARTAN's head as he disintegrates. As she did that, Suki pulls on the other SPARTAN's arm – pulling him closer and making his head jerk back in pain – and the Rookie spins into an improvised ax-kick that snaps the SPARTAN's neck. Sebastian tosses a grenade behind a wall and the resulting explosion sends an enemy flying out rag-doll style.

"Alright, one more and we win!" Sebastian announces as he runs toward a cave. As he enters the cave, a SPARTAN runs up and grabs him from behind. But as the SPARTAN draws her knife, a kuhkri knife lodges into her helmet and she rag-dolls.

_**Game over!**_

The scoreboard makes an appearance as the last kill is replayed in slow motion; showing Kevin as he throws his kuhkri like a boomerang at the SPARTAN's head. After a few moments, the screen returns to the multiplayer screen.

"Oh yeah! Last kill was mine!"

"Seven-twenty shut down," Gregory commands as the screen fades and Suki walks over to turn on the light, illuminating the room once again. She then starts to giggle.

"Cool," she sighs with a smile.

"Not a bad run considering the circumstances," Sebastian sighs. A hand grabs his shoulder and forcibly turns him around where Carlos slugs him in the face. But Sebastian instantly returns the punch and almost the entire team gets between them before anything can escalate. "What the hell is your problem, Carlos!"

"Idiota like you who think they're god!" Carlos points the accusatory finger. "I told you Carlos don't listen to anyone else but Carlos!" He forces his way out of the group's grip and storms out of the room just as Suki removes the shades. Sebastian just huffs a small sigh and crosses his arms as Martha starts chasing after Carlos.

"Oh! Right!" Martha stops and runs back to Sebastian. "Her's mah numb'r so you can give meh a ring whenev'r we meet up again." She pulls out a sheet of paper and a pen and writes down her cell number. "Carlos is gun need a ride home anyway, I'll see if I can't talk 'im down a bit."

"Thanks Marty," Sebastian sighs irritably as he pockets the paper. "We'll see you later." Everybody waves goodbye as Martha rushes out of the library.

"So now what do we do?" Suki asks as she rejoins the group.

"I dunno, you guys got anywhere you have to be?" Sebastian asks everyone else.

"I don't," Megan crosses her arms and shrugs.

"You _know_ I don't," Gregory shakes his head with a smile.

"The only thing I got is zip," Kevin says. Jason shakes his head.

"Well then why not head to Legends?" Sebastian suggests, pocketing his hands. "Hang out, get to know each other a bit better. Works with the whole team thing."

"Sounds good to me; let's _go_!" Kevin jumps and races out the door.

"Don't touch my van until I get there, Kev!" Gregory calls after him and runs to chase him down.

"By the way, Jason; what were you doing in that match?" Megan asks as the four gather their things and leave the conference room. "Was that a form of kickboxing?" Jason answers with a teeter-tauter hand gesture.

"It's called SWAT-Boxing," Sebastian explains for the Rookie. "According to his mom's boyfriend it's kickboxing combined with SWAT training and brutal street fighting. His mom's boyfriend is a SWAT officer and he came up with it on the job."

"Huh, nice," Megan smiles and nods at Jason. He returns the smile.

"Speaking of coming up with things on the fly," Suki snickers as they reach Gregory's van. "What was with that battle cry fighting the Scorpion; 'Halo Flight engage'?"

"Yeah, what _was_ up with that?" Kevin asks as he slides open the door on the side of the van.

"Eh, adrenaline rush. I just randomly blurted out something," Sebastian waves it off, leaning against the van just as the passenger-side window rolls down.

"C'mon Bash, tell us what it was," Gregory pries evilly, poking his shoulder.

"Alright, alright," Sebastian sighs with a small smile. "When I was younger my grandpa showed me a movie called 'Air Force One' where the President of the US is on Air Force One and terrorists highjack it and yadda-yadda. Anyway, towards the end these enemy planes go to shoot down Air Force One but then the plane's fighter escort shows up and the group was called 'Halo Flight' and their leader gave the order 'Halo Flight engage'."

"I see," Megan says quietly, rubbing her chin. "I kinda like that name; 'Halo Flight'."

"So do I; has a nice ring to it and it _obviously_ means we're playing Halo," Suki points out.

"And if you think about; 'flight' can refer to angels or an eagle or like something epic," Kevin adds.

"I'm all for it," Gregory shrugs with a smirk.

"Rookie?" Sebastian turns to Jason. He nods his head in agreement. "I guess it's settled; we are officially the Halo Flight Team!"

"Alright! Now let's get to Legends and find some girls!" Kevin raises his fist. "...wait..."

"Oh...you're gonna get it now!" Suki grins evilly. Kevin retreats into the van as Sebastian just barely catches Suki from jumping in after her and everyone starts laughing.

"Kevin I suggest you get in the _very_ back," Sebastian laughs. "I gotta sit with these two to save his life so go ahead and take shotgun Rook." Jason shrugs with a smile and everybody piles into the van. The wind starts to pick up as the Halo Flight Team headed for Legends.


End file.
